The President's Council for Diversity, Inclusion and Respect was formed by President Bresciani in July 2020 as part of his commitment to ensuring that this pillar of NDSU’s strategic plan will be factored into institutional decision making.

The current Inclusion Committee at the time was designated as the first Council. The Inclusion Committee was formed in 2016 to address diversity and inclusion on campus.

The Council received directive from the President to provide NDSU administration with guidance on how to make NDSU a better community for historically underserved populations and to operationalize the diversity and inclusion goal of the strategic plan.